DENVER-Wednesday, the Western Athletic Conference announced its baseball preseason poll which sees Utah Valley picked 7th and Dixie State 8th.
Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Sacramento State and Grand Canyon each received 73 points, tying the Vaqueros, Hornets and Antelopes as the favorites to win the conference crown.
The Wolverines placed senior right-handed pitcher Jesse Schmitt on the preseason All-WAC squad.
The native of Queen Creek, Ariz. led the WAC with a 1.08 ERA last season. He went 2-0 and posted 27 strikeouts (third in the conference) in 25 innings of work.
The Wolverines are coached by Eric Madsen, who is 302-332 (.476) as he enters his 13th season at the program’s helm. UVU commences its season February 19-21 at Moraga, Calif. against Saint Mary’s.
This will be the Trailblazers’ initial season competing at the Division I level.
Dixie State is coached by ninth-year head coach Chris Pfatenhauer (254-128-1, .665 at Dixie State, 306-187-1, .620 as a head coach).
The Trailblazers will be led by former NCAA Division II All-American, senior first baseman/outfielder/designated hitter Jake Engel. The Tucson, Ariz. native led the Trailblazers in batting average (.458), home runs (6) and RBI (26) in 2020.
Dixie State commences its initial Division I season February 25-28 by hosting Washington State at Bruce Hurst Field of St. George.
